Rudy Giuliani says Mayor Zohran Mamdani should skip this week’s 9/11 memorial ceremonies.
Giuliani, 82, who led New York through the 2001 terror attacks, made the demand during a Newsmax interview on Sunday. The former mayor, whose post-9/11 leadership earned him the nickname “America’s mayor,” said Mamdani’s attendance at events marking the 25th anniversary would offend him personally.
“Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming,” Giuliani said. He framed the ceremonies as sacred ground for victims’ families and for national memory rather than political spectacle. “The reality is this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically,” he continued.
Giuliani’s attack escalated into baseless conspiracy theories about Mamdani, who is a practicing Muslim. The ex-mayor claimed without evidence that the mayor “doesn’t agree that September 11 was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States Of America.” He went further, alleging Mamdani was part of a supposed global Islamic plot to “dominate” the western world. “Too many Americans fall for that Islamic propaganda, which is the reason they’re taking over certain parts of America and certain parts of Europe,” Giuliani said. In a striking comparison, he suggested Mamdani was worse than the 9/11 hijackers — arguing that while Osama bin Laden was open about his hatred of the US, the mayor “is trying to hide it.”
The Republican’s diatribe made him the most prominent voice yet in a growing chorus demanding Mamdani stay away from memorial events this week. Several 9/11 victims’ families have voiced similar calls, and an online petition endorsing the boycott has drawn nearly 100,000 signatures.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki, who held office during the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people in the city, added his own call for Mamdani to stay home. Pataki told City and State on Thursday that the mayor had failed to distance himself from controversial figures like far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.
“With respect to the mayor, I think anyone who doesn’t intentionally distance themselves from Hasan Piker — who has said that America deserved the attacks of September 11th — should not be there,” Pataki said. He also cited Mamdani’s refusal to reject the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which Pataki said “unequivocally calls for violence against Jews, not just in Israel but anywhere in the world.” Pataki presented Mamdani with what he called two choices: “reject those extremist views against America and calling for violence against Jews, or voluntarily decide it’s not in the families’ and the victims’ interest for him to be there.”
Mamdani has previously rejected Piker’s infamous past comment that “America deserved 9/11” — as has Piker himself — though the mayor has continued to associate with the streamer. New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has joined the calls against Mamdani’s attendance on similar grounds.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, Blakeman’s Democratic opponent this fall, forcefully rejected the boycott demands. Speaking Monday at Brooklyn’s West Indian Day parade when asked about Giuliani’s comments, Hochul argued that Mamdani failing to attend would insult the majority of victims’ families who have not opposed his presence.
“He absolutely should be there. He is the mayor of New York City and I have utmost respect for the small number of families that have expressed that, but I think it would be more insulting to the vast majority if he did not come,” Hochul said. She framed the memorial as an opportunity for unity rather than division. “It’s important that he show that we are reunited in our opposition to terrorism. We stand out with our law enforcement, our first responders and the families that have lost loved ones,” she told reporters. “This is a communal event. It should not be a decisive one the way the Republicans are trying to make it be.”
Mamdani has shown no sign of altering his plans. His office repeated a statement first issued in July confirming he would attend the memorial. “I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration, reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home and, frankly, by all of us who call this country home,” his office said.
The 25th anniversary memorial ceremonies are scheduled to take place this week in Lower Manhattan.